Think of Pearly Gate Music as a power trio with a lot of introspective stories to tell.
The band — really the moniker for Seattle-based leader Zach Tillman — produces music that MOJO called “Lo-fi, high-octane.” It’s something like psychedelic folk with rock and pop and Tillman’s pure voice wafting among Laurel Canyon-influenced melodies. It’s easy, breezy and also quite deep, perhaps easier for a listener to understand than the creator who knows all the layers and influences that have gone into its making.
“It’s strange for me because it kind of comes from a collective,” Tillman said. “That doesn’t have to be mystical. We are all on the same planet; we are all involved in spirit. We all pull from that, and whether it’s the big, grandiose side of it or the small, personal, day-to-day side, it usually [results in] a line popping into your head.”
From those lines — at least for Tillman — come songs that are much like vignettes or reflective stories he might share with personal friends. Inspired by older artists who spoke wistfully of the ease of recording today versus in years gone by, Tillman sat down and did just that. After the songs were as complete as he could make them, he fine-tuned them a bit more with some musical kindred spirits. The result is the self-titled release on Barsuk Records.
If you go
Pearly Gate Music with Beach Fossils
Where: DC9, 1940 Ninth St. NW
When: 8:30 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. show Wednesday
Info: $10 in advance, $12 day of show (ages 18 and over); 202-483-9000; dcnine.com
Although the album is complete and has received critical thumbs up, plenty of listeners have been trying to unravel the songs and their meanings. “I would say they are vignettes,” Tillman said. “A lot of people think I have my heart on my sleeve, but that’s how I write.”
Not that it’s easy, with some lamenting Tillman’s lack of explanation for the songs. He tries to share just enough without taking the mystery out of the songs.
“You’ve got to keep the balance and just believe that you are the thing you want to be,” he said. “We all get into music because we’re crazy and think we can go out onstage and people will like it.”
They certainly like the recording.
Consider the album review in American Songwriter, which stated in part “it has a polished feel that is largely uncharacteristic of the genre. A great deal of thought has gone into the arrangements — never too bare or overwrought. There really isn’t a bad song among the bunch.”
That, said Tillman, is just what he wants to hear.
“We don’t know how to play instruments maybe as well as some other guys but we can write some pretty damn good songs,” he said. “It’s kind of rock ‘n’ roll and really stripped down with a swagger.”
